Elizabeth C. Cump

Elizabeth Clare Cump died peacefully on December 19, 2010 at North Carolina Memorial Hospital following a brief illness. Her family was at her side at the time of her passing.
As she was known to her family and friends, Betsy was born in West Lafayette, IN on April 20, 1945. She was preceded in death by her father, William S. Barnhart and her mother, Eleanor Fishel Barnhart.
She is survived by her beloved daughters, Sarolta Cump of Oakland, CA and Megan Cump of New York, NY; her sister, Jane Kolson and husband, Kenneth Kolson of Alexandria, VA, her sister Kate Barnhart and husband, William Knox of Pittsboro, NC; three nephews; one niece; and her beloved companion, Roger Lynn Spears of Chapel Hill, NC. Her marriage to Jon Cump ended in divorce.
Betsy received her undergraduate degree in biology from Kalamazoo College in 1967 and worked in Chicago as a research assistant at the University of Chicago before raising her family in Hinsdale, Illinois and studying ceramics. After her children were grown, she pursued a new career path in graphic design, earning an associates degree from DuPage County Community College in 1997.
In 1998, she moved to Chapel Hill and worked for the architectural firm of O’Brien Atkins in Durham, NC, skillfully executing a variety of handsome graphic materials in support of the firm’s marketing department. It was, she would readily admit, the most rewarding experience of her working life.
In addition to her family and many close friends, Betsy’s greatest joys were working in her garden and observing nature, reading, and art. She was a devoted and generous supporter of many causes important to her, including Planned Parenthood, the World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, the Sierra Club, and North Carolina Public Television.
She will be forever remembered by her family and friends as a kind, loving, mindful, compassionate, and courageous woman.
A gathering of family and friends celebrated Betsy’s extraordinary life at her home on December 22nd. A memorial gathering is also anticipated in the Spring of 2011. Friends who wish to offer a gesture in her memory are encouraged to direct a gift in her name to any of the organizations dear to her.